Graptophyllum pictum is a shrub in the Acanthaceae family, native to New Guinea and widely grown in gardens for its strongly variegated or dark leaves. Grow it in bright light with warmth and steady moisture.
Family
Acanthaceae (Acanthus family)
Grows as
Shrub
Light
Bright indirect, Part shade
Water
Keep the soil evenly moist in the growing season and let the top layer dry slightly between waterings.
Soil
Rich, well-draining potting mix or garden loam.
Temperature
18–30 °C; protect below 10 °C
How easy
Easy
Native range
New Guinea
Climate
wet tropical
About
Graptophyllum pictum, the caricature-plant, is a shrub in the family Acanthaceae. It is native to New Guinea, also a well-known garden shrub. There are two varieties: the variegated color one is known as 'white adulsa', and is used combined with coconut water to reduce swelling. The dark-leaved variety is known with trade name 'black adulsa' in India.
[Contains information from Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Heritage Trees from data.gov.sg (National Parks Board), made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0]
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Graptophyllum pictum by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.